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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

They cut my gorgeous cherry tree down

232 replies

babyno5 · 22/05/2018 18:01

I know it’s not important in the grand scheme of things.
I had a garden maintenance business is to give me a quote to cut down couple of conifers, pull up some bushes and bring my hedge down to a manageable height.
I’ve come home from work to find they’ve also cut down my gorgeous 30 foot cherry tree. I’m so upset! We have zero privacy upstairs now and I hate how it looks.
I was really clear on what I wanted them to do. I text him and all I got was “sorry I misunderstood you”
Suggestions please to make a horrible hedge look better!
Aibu to be close to tears? (Be gentle with me-shit day at work dealing with idiots!!)

OP posts:
CoffeeIsNotEnough · 22/05/2018 19:35

Good luck OP. Hope you get some reply. It's a shocking error. I'd be so upset.

elephantscanring · 22/05/2018 19:36

Well, a proper tree feller has no business cutting trees and hedges this time of year - what about the nesting birds? So it sounds like he's ignorant and well as unable to follow a brief.

You should know better too, OP. Trim your trees after the nesting season is over and baby birds have fledged.

bamboo21 · 22/05/2018 19:40

Take screenshots of the texts and photos of the logs and stump and any other remains. Get as much evidence as possible of the tree-chopper's whereabouts (as in where he lives and where letters can reach him).

It's also worth contacting your house insurance as this situation may be covered by them or they may be able to pursue him or his insurance for you or their legal advice (and additional legal cover if you have it) may be helpful.

SevenStones · 22/05/2018 19:42

I'd tell them to make good or I'd be taking them to court. And would do so if they didn't sort it out.

You have it in writing what you agreed to, so no excuses on their part.

shinycat · 22/05/2018 19:47

@babyno5

Agree with the posters saying you demand they get you a new cherry tree.

I think you can get them 8 to 10 feet high for about £60. And they grow 12-16" a year, so it may take a while, but you can grow one back.... They can supply and fit it (plant it.)

Fucking idiots. Your poor tree! Sad

P.S. Check first to see if you can get one even higher/bigger to start with.........

Scentofwater · 22/05/2018 19:49

OP I’m sorry to be a bearer of bad news, but as a pp above said, if you plant another cherry it might struggle to thrive.

www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/planting-in-old-spaces.htm

Is there another kind of tree you really like that you could plant there instead?

For horrible hedge, maybe this is your chance to get some tasty fruit on the go? I’ve seen raspberries, red and black currants coaxed into hedge- like forms. My new hedge has lots of sloes/blackthorn which will have lovely flowers, and every 5th plant or so is a wild rose for the flowers and hips. Honeysuckle is quick and pretty but can be a bit of a beast to get rid of if you changed your mind.

Hope your gardener is sweating with the horror of what he’s done.

extinctspecies · 22/05/2018 19:49

DH mowed down a newly planted shrub at the weekend.

It was almost grounds for divorce.

Oldraver · 22/05/2018 19:52

*Well, a proper tree feller has no business cutting trees and hedges this time of year - what about the nesting birds? So it sounds like he's ignorant and well as unable to follow a brief.

You should know better too, OP. Trim your trees after the nesting season is over and baby birds have fledged.*

What a load of old rot...do you think tree surgeons go into hibernation for months of the year ?

Of course trees and hedges can be trimmed so long as you dont disturb any nesting birds

Buster72 · 22/05/2018 19:53

Was it kanza cherry tree Have you asked your neighbour at all. I think we know who the culprit was.

Shiftymake · 22/05/2018 19:53

www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/prunus-mature-flowering-cherry-blossom-trees-c155
They will be looking at a couple hundred, there is trees there that are 4,5-6m.

MarshaBradyo · 22/05/2018 19:53

That is so so bad
Did the quote not list the trees?

MarshaBradyo · 22/05/2018 19:55

I bet extinctspecies

Dh cut back a climbing rose right back and exposed the neighbour’s garden

The only thing that helped was moving

MarshaBradyo · 22/05/2018 19:56

Yes I’d get them to buy and plant a mature one

Poor tree

NurseryFightClub · 22/05/2018 19:58

So sorry for your tree OP. Clematic looks lovely grown with roses or may honeysuckle.
I have learnt something new reading this thread I didn't know not to replace like for like trees, the previous owners cut down oak and willows trees prior to use purchasing property. I think cherry maybe a good replacement judging by everyone's comments

Original poster
babyno5 · 22/05/2018 20:01

Update - he has said he will happily plant a mature tree of our choosing. I know it won’t fill the space but at least it’s a start.
Thank you for all your great advice. I’ve stopped blubbing, have a large G&T in hand and OH gone for fish and chips!

OP posts:
DramaAlpaca · 22/05/2018 20:02

I'd be so upset by this Sad

Original poster
babyno5 · 22/05/2018 20:02

oldraver he wasn’t even supposed to trim the Cherry tree!!!

OP posts:
DramaAlpaca · 22/05/2018 20:04

Cross post with you there OP. Glad it sounds like he's going to be reasonable.

TheSassyAssassin · 22/05/2018 20:06

What an absolute tosser! My parents had a gorgeous cherry tree. It was stunning. Spent half my childhood climbing it etc. It got diseased and had to go (it was very old by this time though) and their garden has never looked the same since. Gutted for you. Any response from said tosser?

TheSassyAssassin · 22/05/2018 20:09

Oh...x-post! Hmm...good that he will do that...and hopefully the large G&T will take the edge off! GinFlowers

GeorginaWorsley · 22/05/2018 20:11

Am pleased he will sort it but totally understand why you are upset.
Our neighbours had the boundary hawthorn/holly hedge dug up and replaced with brown fencing .
DH ‘forgot’ to mention that they had asked his permission.
He says he thought they would leave our side intact and just reduce the width, placing the fence their side of the boundary.
I came home one day to find it gone.
I never complained as I blamed DHWinkbut looking back I should have done,it’s cost us £££ and countless hours to replace , their workmen left a mess our side, concrete and gravel etc.
Good luck with your new tree.

Original poster
babyno5 · 22/05/2018 20:12

OH sulking as now knows I loved that tree more than him 😂😂

OP posts:
AnnieAnoniMouser · 22/05/2018 20:22

Find the BIGGEST Cherry Tree in the COUNTRY and get him to pay for a professional recommended by the seller to plant it. I would NOT trust him to do it.

Fucking idiot. Any one with half a brain cell would double, triple check before cutting a tree like that down 😡🤬

Tell OH if the Surgeon amputates his leg when he goes in for a mole removal you’ll be just as upset.... (a little white lie doesn’t hurt 😂)

ferriswheel · 22/05/2018 20:28

That is excellent news.

Pumpkin1975 · 22/05/2018 20:36

I would be devastated too. Don’t suppose there’s any chance it had a tree protection order? Quick call to your council might be worth it, if it was protected you would really have them over a barrel.
In terms of replacement, I used to work in plant sales and can recommend Barcham Nurseries www.barcham.co.uk. You can actually pick out the exact tree you want on their website and they do mature trees, although you would probably have a better chance of the tree establishing if it is younger. Don’t let the tree butchers fob you off with a poor specimen.